Sunday, January 31, 2010

On learning that Pew Research says only 26 percent of U.S. citizens know that it takes 60 votes to end a filibuster and thus enable the Senate to end debate and vote on a bill, I did what I often do when I want to get a slant on popular opinion: I asked my partner what she thought her students knew about this. She teaches college freshman at a moderately selective private college. Her young people seem a plausible slice of smart young people.

"Easy," she replied. "They all saw 'How a Bill Becomes a Law' in high school." Here's a YouTube version of this high school classic. [3:01]

Note there is no mention in this of the filibuster or other undemocratic aspects of legislative procedure -- no wonder folks don't know how Senate procedure is stifling democratic (small "d") government.

The Pew Survey linked to above is interesting. Only 32 percent of us know that every single Republican voted against health care reform. You can take the quiz yourself and see how well you line up with the general public.

***

Meanwhile, the progressive blogosphere is a agog because President Obama visited the Republican Congressional caucus meeting on Friday, took policy questions, and swatted the dim-witted drivel the Republicans offered out of the park -- all live on TV. Transcript is here. Here's the video. [85:56]

Here's an idea: how about something a little more demanding for our brilliant leader? It would be great to see whether he could interact so intelligently with people who have a little more intellectual heft. The President should go on live TV with a panel of folks who actually know something about health care reform and take a shot at explaining why the strangely contorted half-measures that Congress has come close to passing is good for us. Some suggestions for the panel:

Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) who has introduced health care reforms in 27 sessions of Congress;

Dr. Marcia Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Blogosphere health policy journalists who've done the work of helping hapless Democrats explain what they've come up with may be somewhat compromised, but Jonathan Cohn and Ezra Klein would make smart moderators.

Now that's a TV show I'd tune in to. I think this President might be up to it. But, unlike the Party of No, these folks would require him to work to make his points if they weren't too cowed.

No comments:

What's this blog about?

My musings on current events, current projects, current anxieties and current delights.

I started this under the Bush regime when any grain of sand thrown into the gears of the over-reaching imperial state seemed worthwhile.

I have worked to elect more and better Democrats -- and to hammer the shit out of them once we get them in office so they do the things their constituents want and need. It's a big job.

I have endured the dashed potential for a more transformational regime under Obama. The man has made himself an accomplice in the imperial crimes of his predecessor as well as committing his own. He has also almost certainly been the most progressive president most of us will live to see. I fear we'll look back on his years in office with mild gratitude for a respite from national leadership that was habitually stupid and vicious, as well as wrong.

Visitors here will find a lot of commentary on books I'm reading. I am very intentionally reading intensively offline these days. When it feels hard to find direction, it's time to learn something new.

Now available

About Me

I'm a progressive political activist who runs trails and climbs mountains whenever any are available. I've had the privilege to work for justice in Central America (Nicaragua and El Salvador), in South Africa, in the fields of California with the United Farmworkers Union, and in the cities and schools of my own country. I'm a Christian of the Episcopalian flavor; we think and argue a lot. For work, I've done a bit of it all: run an old fashioned switch-board; remodeled buildings and poured concrete; edited and published periodicals, reports and books; and organized for electoral campaigns. I am currently an independent consultant to organizations seeking "help when you have to make a fight."